4 blasts kill 67 in Iraq’s Shi’ite dists
Baghdad, January 5
Bomb attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslim areas of Iraq killed at least 67 persons on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, ramping up fears of an increase in sectarian strife. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sparked the worst political crisis in a year on December 19 when he sought the removal of two senior Sunni politicians, a day after the last US troops left Iraq.

DEADLY ATTACKS: The blast site in Kadhimiyan, north of Baghdad; a victim being treated at a hospital in Sadr city. — AFP

Taliban slays 15 kidnapped Pak securitymen
Islamabad, January 5
The Taliban today dumped 15 naked bodies of Pakistani paramilitary frontier constabulary personnel kidnapped two weeks ago in a north western town, signalling that some militant factions may have spurned peace talks with the government.

NY detective jailed for raping girl of
Indian-origin
New York, January 5
A New York private detective has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for raping his Indian-origin girlfriend and then implicating her in one of the most elaborate frame-ups in US history for which she was wrongly jailed for seven months.

Prosecutor seeks death penalty for Mubarak
Cairo, January 5
The prosecutor in the trial of Hosni Mubarak on Thursday demanded the death penalty for the ousted Egyptian leader on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising against his rule.

A file photo of Hosni Mubarak during his trial

Bidve’s parents in London,
to visit crime spot todayLondon, January 5
Slain Indian student Anuj Bidve's parents have viewed his body for the first time at a funeral parlour here, more than a week after the Pune boy was killed in an unprovoked attack in Salford.

Subhash (L) and Yogini Bidve (3L), parents of Anuj Bidve, and British MP Keith Vaz (2L) in
London on Thursday. — AP/PTI

USA posts corrected India map on websiteWashington, January 5
The US State Department has posted on its website a new map of India reflecting its long-standing position on the country’s geographical boundaries, acknowledging that it had earlier made a "goof up" that triggered strong protest from New Delhi.

Baghdad, January 5
Bomb attacks targeting Shi'ite Muslim areas of Iraq killed at least 67 persons on Thursday, police and hospital sources said, ramping up fears of an increase in sectarian strife. Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sparked the worst political crisis in a year on December 19 when he sought the removal of two senior Sunni politicians, a day after the last US troops left Iraq.

On December 22, bombs in predominately Shi'ite parts of Iraq's capital killed 72. The biggest attack on Thursday was by a police checkpoint west of Nassiriya in the south, where a suicide bomber targeting Shi'ite pilgrims killed at least 38 people and wounded 70, Qusay al-Abadi, head of Nassiriya provincial council said.

Photographs from the scene showed relatives hugging the bodies of young men lying face down on ground covered in blood and with the pilgrims' belongings strewn around them.

Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims are expected to make their way to the holy southern Iraqi Shi'ite city of Kerbala before Arbain, a major Shi'ite Muslim religious rite due to be marked in a week's time.

John Drake, a senior risk consultant at AKE Group, said Shi'ites were likely to be targeted in the weeks around Arbain. Earlier on Thursday, a bomb planted on a parked motorcycle and another roadside explosive device killed at least 10 people and wounded 37 others in Baghdad's northeastern impoverished Sadr City slum, police and hospital sources said.

The police said they found and defused two other bombs. "There was a group of day labourers gathered, waiting to be hired for work. Someone brought his small motorcycle and parked it nearby. A few minutes later, it blew up, killed some people, wounded others and burned some cars," said a police officer at the scene, declining to be named.

A Reuters reporter said there was blood around the site of the motorcycle bomb attack and that tarmac on the road had been ripped up by the explosion. Building tools and shoes were scattered across the site. Reuters TV video from Sadr City hospital showed a crowded emergency room with many injured people and their relatives. One man sat on the floor, hugging his younger brother, as they cried for their sister who was killed in one of the blasts.

Another set of explosions, two car bombs, occurred in Baghdad's northwestern Kadhimiya district and killed at least 15 persons and wounded 32, police and hospital sources said.
— Reuters

The judicial commission investigating the memogate scandal has issued notices to President Asif Ali Zardari, Chief of the Army Staff Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif and others.

They have been asked to present their point of view on the memo allegedly sent to former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen on behalf of the Pakistan Government to rein in the military and prevent a possible military coup.

The commission has asked them to submit their statements or appear before the commission at its next meeting on January 9. The court further directed that American businessman Mansoor Ejaz and former ambassador Hussain Haqqani be provided full security to allow them to appear before it. The commission has been asked to complete its inquiry in a month.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court issued a fresh contempt notice to former Law Minister Babar Awan over his latest comments on the contempt notice issued to him in connection with his news conference last month against court’s ruling on the memo scandal.

Islamabad, January 5
The Taliban today dumped 15 naked bodies of Pakistani paramilitary frontier constabulary personnel kidnapped two weeks ago in a north western town, signalling that some militant factions may have spurned peace talks with the government.

"The naked bodies were found in a field near the mountains," senior police and army officers were quoted as saying by the TV channels.

The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the brutal murders and a spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told the Pashto-language Khyber Television channel that the bodies of the slain Frontier Constabulary personnel had been dumped at Spin Tul, an area near North Waziristan Agency. Heavily armed Taliban fighters had kidnapped 15 security personnel when they launched a pre-dawn attack on the Frontier Constabulary's Mullazai Fort in Tank district, located near South Waziristan Agency, on December 23.

The Taliban had subsequently demanded the release of some militants in exchange for the paramilitary personnel.

The Taliban apparently killed the security personnel in retaliation for an operation by security forces against militants in Khyber Agency a few days ago.

Taliban spokesman Ehsan warned that the militant would carry out more "revenge attacks" in the coming days.

He said Taliban would also take revenge for an operation by security forces in Zhob district of Balochistan province that killed several militants on Wednesday.

Reporters in the tribal belt said the Taliban were angry at the arrest of several female relatives of militants after the operation in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency. The attacks come even as media reports said that Taliban militants in Afghanistan and Pakistan had formed a new grouping and pledged to stop targeting Pakistani security forces.

They had also formed a shura to oversee adherence to this. The deal, reports said had been worked out at the intervention of Taliban's elusive supreme commander Mullah Omar. But in a dramatic turn around the TTP said it will continue carrying out suicide attacks and target Pakistani security forces despite joining other militant groups in a pledge not to kill innocent people or to resort to kidnappings for ransom.
— PTI

New York, January 5
A New York private detective has been sentenced to 32 years in prison for raping his Indian-origin girlfriend and then implicating her in one of the most elaborate frame-ups in US history for which she was wrongly jailed for seven months.

Jerry Ramrattan, 39, an Indian-origin man from Guyana, was convicted in November after a four-week jury trial of first-degree rape, perjury, conspiracy, tampering with a witness and falsely reporting incidents in his plot to frame his former girlfriend Seemona Sumasar, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Sumasar, 36, is the daughter of an Indian taxi firm owner from Guyana and had previously worked as a Morgan Stanley analyst.

"The sentence provides a measure of justice for this victim, who survived a nightmarish rape only to be victimised again when she was arrested on robbery charges and sent to jail - away from her daughter, away from her business and facing the prospect of many years in prison," Brown said, adding that Ramrattan's actions strike at the very heart of the criminal justice system and must be severely punished.

In handing down the sentence, Justice Richard Buchter said Ramrattan deserved no mercy as he was a "diabolical conniver and sinister manipulator" who had "shamelessly exploited the criminal justice system." — PTI

Cairo, January 5
The prosecutor in the trial of Hosni Mubarak on Thursday demanded the death penalty for the ousted Egyptian leader on charges of complicity in the killing of protesters during last year's uprising against his rule.

Mustafa Khater, one of a five-member prosecution team, also asked the judge for the death sentence for Mubarak's security chief and six top police commanders being tried in the same case.

"Retribution is the solution. Any fair judge must issue a death sentence for these defendants," said Khater on the third and final day of the prosecution's opening statement.

London, January 5
Slain Indian student Anuj Bidve's parents have viewed his body for the first time at a funeral parlour here, more than a week after the Pune boy was killed in an unprovoked attack in Salford.

Subhash Bidve, father of Anuj, arrived in London last evening along with wife Yogini Bidve and the victim's brother-in-law Rakesh Sonawane. They will visit the site of the December 26 gruesome crime in Salford tomorrow morning.

After their arrival here, they viewed the victim's body at a funeral parlour in London. The family is scheduled to meet Indian-origin Labour MP Keith Vaz in Parliament, before proceeding to Lancaster University, where 23-year-old Anuj was a postgraduate student of Microelectronics. The university has decided to return his tuition fees. The family will return to London tomorrow after praying at the crime spot in the Orsdall area of Salford.

They are likely to make a statement to the media after praying at the spot and expected to leave for India with the body tomorrow evening. Vaz said: "I am pleased to welcome the Bidve family to Parliament. They have shown great dignity following the terrible circumstances of their son's death. This must be a very difficult time for them. We must reassure foreign students we are doing everything we can to ensure their safety in the UK.”

Kiaran Stapleton, from Ordsall, has been charged with his murder and remanded in custody until a plea and case management hearing on March 20. Three other people arrested on suspicion of Bidve's murder have been granted bail until March pending further inquiries.
— PTI

Washington, January 5
The US State Department has posted on its website a new map of India reflecting its long-standing position on the country’s geographical boundaries, acknowledging that it had earlier made a "goof up" that triggered strong protest from New Delhi.

“We made a goof up and we fixed it and we're now back in compliance with our own cartographical policy,” State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters at her daily news conference last evening.

Her remarks came as she announced the posting of the new and corrected maps of India on the website of the State Department and its travel-related sites.

The previous controversial maps, which showed portions of J&K as part of Pakistan, were removed by the State Department in November after India’s strong objection. India maintains that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country.

“I'm thrilled and relieved to tell you that we have now put the revised maps up on our website,” Nuland said. "What you will see when you look at these maps is that they reflect the fact that the United States takes no position on the dispute and urges all the parties to seek a peaceful resolution to resolving the claims," she said. — PTI